Intel® Dual Band Wireless-AC 8260 keeps reseting itself

[BBert8]

Hello,

I've purchased Asus Zenbook 3 UX390UA about a month ago and since the day i first used it i've been having connectivity issues. Wifi adapter disables itself and then windows and everything just gets stacked. Later i tried to use Ubuntu also. It was a bit more stable but once in every week or so i got similar connectivity problems again. Then i reinstalled windows 10 again since it's the 'recommended' OS by Asus.

• I've tried the solutions out there related with the Windows 10 Anniversary Update and all other windows 10 connectivity problems. Didn't work.
• I've read all the related topics here in Intel Community. So working solutions so far.
• I've tried 3 different intel drivers which are 18.40, 19.10 and 19.20With 19.10 and 19.20 i got better ping responses (around 3-5 ms) but connectivity problems worse. I couldn't even get connected more than 5 minutes.With 18.40 accidentally i noticed something that if i set the power management to the "maximum power saving" it lasts longer. I know everybody suggests "maximum performance" but it just makes the situation worse for me. With the "maximum power saving" setting, sometimes i had no problems for a couple of days but then usually have severe problems again.

You can find my event logs, system information and ping logs in the attachments.

Thank you very much.

[idata]

Hello bertan,

As we understand, your Intel® Dual Band Wireless-AC 8260 is showing connectivity issues. Based on your description and the logs provided, we advise you to look into possible interference or contention from other Wi-Fi Networks, here are some things we found interesting:- You are using 802.11 in the 2.4 GHz band (channel 2). The issue is present with different driver versions, and even with Linux OS. Reducing the power of the adapter improves connectivity.Here are some actions you can try, keep in mind that some are not done in the adapter itself and you may need to contact the Access point manufacturer:1. Set the following in the Advanced settings of the wireless adapter:- 802.11n Channel Width for 2.4GHz: 20 MHz only.- HT Mode: HT Mode2. Disable Bluetooth, this is normally done with a switch in the PC chassis or with a key combination.3. Change the wireless channel in your access point, and remove any possible sources of interference. You can find information about this in the following advisory:http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/network-and-i-o/wireless-networking/000005493.html Quick Checks to Improve or Fix Wireless Connection Issues4. Update the firmware of your wireless access point.Regards,Jonathan B.

[BBert8]

Hello,

I followed the steps that you wrote and will be testing the connectivity for next couple of days. But i wonder something, even if it's a matter of 802.11 in the 2.4 GHz connectivity, isn't it weird that the complete OS freezes and it even needs hard reset sometimes. If it simply disconnected i could have understood but..

Anyway i have another question, i had ASUS ZenBook UX31E prior to Zenbook 3 and i was using the same router and same bluetooth devices(keyboard and mouse) that i wanna use with Zenbook 3. I didn't have any issues with the WIFI connectivity. So the new hardware on Zenbook 3, either Bluetooth or wireless devices, causes problems?

[idata]

Hello bertan,

The behavior and symptoms shown with connectivity issues may vary, please apply the actions we recommended already and if the issue persists we will certainly look at driver issues among other options.Regards,Jonathan.

[idata]

Hello bertan,

We haven't seen any updates for this thread. Please let us know if you require further assistance.Regards,Jonathan.

[BBert8]

Hello,

I've been testing it for a while. With the 19.10 or 19.20 drivers even with 5G modems it doesn't work well. It disconnects and makes OS freeze quite often. The thing is it seems so random to me. Sometimes it happens when i connect my bluetooth keyboard, sometimes it happens when i install a software that uses windows visual c++ redistributable. So i cannot see any patterns and logical reason behind it but it happens quite often.

On the other hand with the driver version 18.40 and the given settings except number 2 (disabling bluetooth, i have to use it) it works "okay". For last one week i've been using it without any problems.

But still i wonder something. Even though it seems okay for now with the 18.40 drivers. What is the exact reason for these problems? Does everyone who owns Zenbook 3 have the same problems? (probably not). I mean really, what causes this thing? Is it my hardware having some problems? Should i take my laptop to Service Center or something? Or is it about windows 10?

Thank you very much.

[idata]

Hello bertan,

Since you use Bluetooth*, please update to the recommended driver:https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/26419/Intel-Wireless-Bluetooth-Software-for-Windows-10?product=86068 Intel® Wireless Bluetooth® Software for Windows® 10 [Version: 19.11.1639]Based on the information you provided, the hardware is not at fault, it appears to be a software issue. The goal is to make your system work well, and since you mention that it has been stable for a week, it seems we have 2 options:1. Update the Bluetooth* driver, and continue using the WiFi driver 18.40, that is working well for you. Then, you could wait for a future driver release and check if it works better in your system. We would consider this thread resolved for now.2. Continue troubleshooting driver 19.20 and retrieving additional details, this would help us get to the root of the problem, determine if the wireless driver is the culprit and how to resolve it.Please let us know how you would like to proceed.Regards,Jonathan.

[BBert8]

Hello,

I've been already using that driver for bluetooth for a while.

Since i need to have my laptop connected to the internet almost all the time even if i want to test 19.20 driver i can test it only for a limited time in a week. So maybe it's better to go with 18.40 for a while and wait for the future driver release as you suggested.

Thank you very much for your help.

[idata]

Hello bertan,

It is good to know you system is working fine with the driver 18.40, using a viable workaround is a good result as well. We are continuously working to improve future driver releases.Regards,Jonathan.

[BBert8]

Maybe it was a bit early to say that it's all going okay. Even though it has been almost 2 weeks without any connection problem with the 18.40 driver and the settings mentioned above, yesterday it happened again. I was trying out some screen recording software. I installed http://camstudio.org/ Cam Studio and https://obsproject.com/ OBS Studio and right after i recorded some test stuff i lost the connection and the system became unstable again. i couldn't stay connected more than 2-3 minutes and couldn't even send an email with 6 mb attachment for more than an hour.

Later when i was uninstalling the stuff, i noticed that one of the software also installed https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=14632 Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 Redistributable Package (x64) which caused similar problems before with other drivers. I uninstalled everything that i installed yesterday and now have been testing the connection again.

Please let me know if you need any further information like error logs etc. (I've checked system logs already and our old friend NDIS error was there again.)

Thank you very much.

[idata]

Hello bertan,

If the issue reoccurred after you installed the new software, then one of those applications may be triggering the issue. Some 3rd party applications modify the way the wireless driver operates; we have seen case where the apps fail, but the error is reported for the wireless driver. You might want to check with the software vendor if they have full support for Windows® 10 Anniversary Update, or if there is a newer version of the program.From the adapter side, you can try a clean installation, using the driver only.1. https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/26339 Download Intel® PROSet/Wireless Software and Drivers for IT Admins, 19.20.0. File: Wireless_19.20.0_Driver64_Win10.zip2. Extract the contents of the zip file to a known location in your hard drive.3. Go to Control Panel, Programs and Features and Uninstall "Intel® PROSet/Wireless Software". When prompted, choose the option to "Discard settings".4. In Control Panel, Device Manager, Network Adapters, right click on the Intel® Dual Band Wireless-AC 8260 and Uninstall it. Make sure you mark the option to "Delete the driver software for this device".5. Reboot the PC or scan for hardware changes, check device manager and if an older wireless driver is detected and installed, repeat the actions to uninstall and delete it as well. Repeat this process until the OS does not allow deleting the driver, or until the controller shows as Unknown Device. 6. Remove temporary files: Press the Windows Key + R to open the run box. Type Cleanmgr.exe. Press OK. Select the main drive, usually C:\. Check Temporary Files and uncheck everything else. Press OK.7. Go to Device Manager and locate the 8260 (it may be an unknown device), select the option to install the driver and browse to the location where you extracted the driver files.Also, we advise you to https://www.asus.com/nz/support/Download/3/938/0/2/RFg3mM0IrjWtUMLG/45/ Contact Asus Support, and check with them about updating the BIOS of your PC.Regards,Jonathan.

[idata]

Hello bertan,

We haven't received any further updates about this matter. Please let us know if there was any progress after our last message.Regards,Jonathan